Conyers & Jackson Lee Applaud Additional Commutations

Statement

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) released the following statements after the White House announced the commutation of the sentences of 111 individuals earlier this week:

"We are grateful for having worked with President Obama to make reforms to our criminal justice system. Without his persistent leadership this would not have happened. It adds to the legacy of the 44th President," said Ranking Member Conyers.

"I am encouraged by President Obama's commutation of sentences of 111 individuals -- who were all victims of unjust sentencing," said Crime Subcommittee Ranking Member Jackson Lee. "Nearly all of these men and women would have been released and contributing back to society already had they been convicted under today's laws or reform proposals. I welcome and applaud the commutations of the sentences of these individuals. Incarcerating people for unwarranted lengths of time serves no constructive purpose.

The President has recognized this, as has Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and I hope the Administration's Clemency Project will continue to address the multitude of cases in which sentence reductions are appropriate. Of course, the need to engage in such a broad review of sentences exists largely because our sentencing laws and policies, particularly for drug offenses, urgently need to be changed. We need to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing and let judges impose appropriate sentences based on the facts and circumstances of each case, and we should eliminate the higher penalties for crack cocaine relative to powder cocaine offenses. I am heartened that there is a growing, bipartisan recognition of the problem of over incarceration and I hope this will lead to sentencing reform this Congress."

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